Hinge



E. PRESTAGE HINGE Oct. 18, 1938.

Filed April 1, 1957 2 sheets-sheet 1 I VENTOQ. Eda/1h Pres faye.

AT TO R N E\ Oct. 18, 1938. E PRESTAGE I 2,133,307

HINGE Filed April 1', 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNvENTOE. Edw/h PresfayeATTORN EY Patented Oct. 18, 1938 PATENT OFFICE HINGE Edwin Prestage,London, England Application April 1, 1937, Serial No. 134,199 In GreatBritain April 2, 1936 12 Claims.

This invention relates to hinges particularly for laminated assembliessuch as heat interchangers and filter presses.

The invention is concerned primarily with the mounting of plates formingtogether a heat interchanger such for example as is commonly employed inthe pasteurization of milk or the manufacture of beer. In this form ofheat interchanger the plates defining the passages through which themilk or beer passes have to be taken apart at frequent intervals forcleaning purposes, and it is important, therefore, that this operationshould be conducted in a manner which is as expeditious as possible.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved formand construction of hinge which enables a large number of comparativelythin plates to be separately pivoted within a confined space and to becarried with suflicient freedom of movement, so that the hinges do notinterfere with the closing pressure exerted by the usual end clampingplates.

The invention accordingly provides a hinge mounting for the plates of alaminated assembly in which there is interposed between the plate andthe pivot of the hinge, a member which is capable of flexing to allowthe plate to be clamped fiat upon or between the remaining plates. Thus,the invention is particularly useful in cases where the hinge axis isdisplaced to one side of the plate, that element of the hinge carryingthe plate being secured to the latter by a flexible strip arranged tobend and allow the plate to be clamped flat upon or between theremaining plates.

As a further feature the invention provides a hinge mounting for theplates of a laminated assembly arranged with clamping means for pressingthe plates together so that they are disposed in parallel verticalplanes, said mounting comprising for each plate one or more stripsarranged with their edges facing upwards and downwards, which stripsserve to attach the plate to one or more vertical hinge pivots and aresufficiently resistant to vertical bending to support the Weight of theplate in a rigid manner but are flexible enough in a horizontal plane toallow the plate to be freely clamped flat upon or between the remainingplates. The flexible supporting member may be of tapering shape itswider end being disposed adjacent the plate, while a plurality of platesmay conveniently be pivotally mounted about a common vertical axis byusing the improved form of binge.

The invention further provides a heat interchange unit embodying theimproved hinge mounting, said unit conveniently comprising thick platesand thin plates arranged alternately, one thick plate and the nextadjacent thin plate being carried pivotally about a common verticalaxis. The usual end clamping plates which are normally rather heavy canconveniently be carried upon double knuckle joints. An improved heatinterchange unit according to the invention may comprise a plurality ofvertical plates arranged with clamping means serving to hold themtogether in a compact pack, said plates being mounted to open apart bypivotal movement about vertical axes at one side of the assembly andbeing supported each by a plurality of fiexible members which areinterposed between the plate and the corresponding hinges so as topermit the plate to lie flat upon or between the remaining plates whenthe assembly is clamped in its closed condition. In cases where eachplate is supported by a hinge at its upper part and another hinge at itslower part, a single hinge pin can advantageously carry the lower partsof a plurality of plates and another hinge pin carry pivotally the upperparts of the same plates.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in whichFigure 1 is a front elevation of one of the thin plates of a heatinterchange unit having the improved flexible mounting;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the mounting of a thick plate;

Figure 3 is an elevation to an enlarged scale showing the constructionof the hinge mounting of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan corresponding to Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevation to an enlarged scale showingthe hinge mounting of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a plan corresponding to Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary plan View of a heat interchange unit showingthe pivotal mounting of the plates, the section being taken on the linel-l of Figure 8;

Figure 8 is a front elevation of the hinge mount- 45 ing at the bottomof a pair of plates taken partly in section on the line 8-8 of Figure 7;and

Figure 9 is a sectional plan showing a modified form of hinge mounting.

In Figure 1 one of the thin plates of a heat 5 interchange unit is shownat 10, and is carried pivotally about an axis I l at one side of theplate by means of a pair of hinge elements l2 and I3 which are connectedto the plate II] by means of flexible intermediate members l4 and 15.The 55 construction of these parts is shown more clearly in Figures 3and 4 from which it will be seen that the plate I0 is riveted at [6 tothe intermediate member l5, which latter consists of a strip ofrelatively springy material such as tempered steel or the usualcorrosion-resisting metal used normally for the construction of the heatinterchange plates. At its outer part the intermediate flexible memberI5 is secured to the hinge element [3 by means of rivets l1, while themember I3 is formed with a vertical bore I 8 for the reception of anysuitable hinge pin.

In the preferred construction of mounting as adapted for the relativelyheavy thick plates I9 of a heat interchange unit intermediate flexiblemembers 20 of trapezoidal shape are secured between the plates !9 andhinge members 2|, lugs 22 being formed on each of the plates IQ for theattachment of the flexible members 20.

It will be appreciated that the flexible members l5 and 20 which havetheir edges 23 and 24 directed upwardly and downwardly respectively arevery resistant to bending in a vertical plane, and are thus easilycapable of supporting the plates in and I9 in a firm manner. They are,however, flexible horizontally, and when a series of vertical plates areclamped together to form a pack the improved hinge mounting enables eachplate to take up its own position and lie flat upon or between theremaining plates. Moreover, the position of the plates is dependentprincipally upon the prevailing thickness of the usual rubber packingwashers accommodated in grooves 25 in the thick plates, and theflexibility of the members l5 and 20 permits a large variation in thisrespect.

This is shown more clearly in Figures 7 and 8, which illustrate aconstructional form of the improved hinge mounting as used in a heatinterchange unit for supporting the bottom parts of the plates. Asimilar fitting is, of course, employed for carrying the upper portionof the plate assembly.

A massive bracket 26 which is attached to any suitable support 21 bymeans of nuts 28 is substantially E-shaped in section, as will be seenin Figure 8, on account of two horizontal grooves 29 and 30. These areused for supporting the hinge members l3 and 2| which are arranged inpairs and are pivotally carried upon vertical pivot pins 3 i. It will benoted that each pivot pin 3| shown in Figure 7 forms the anchorage forthe bottom part of one thick plate I 9 and also the bottom part of thenext adjacent thin plate I0.

In the particular form of heat interchange unit shown in Figures 7 and 8the plates Ill and 19 are divided into two groups A and B by means of apartition member 32, the lower part of which is carried by a link 33pivoted at 34 to the partition and at 35 to the bracket 26, thus forminga double knuckle hinge. Links 36 and 3'! are similarly employed forsupporting the end plates 38 and 39 respectively. The group of plates Ais in Figure '7 shown in its opened condition, while the group B isfully clamped together. It will be seen that the intermediate members l5and 20 of the hinges allow of considerable variation in the totalthickness of the assembly, and this adequately compensates for changeswhich may from time to time take place in the thickness of the packingwashers within the grooves 25.

It will be realized that the improved hinge mounting according to theinvention may be obtained by employing various constructions, and ifdesired the details may be Varied to suit requirements. Thus it may bedesirable in some cases to laminate the spring plates or strips by whichthe interchanger or filter plates are carried, while any number ofspaced spring strips may be used for supporting each of the plates, andif desired the hinge lugs may be formed integrally with the springplates by a suitable bending or forming process. This generalconstruction is shown in Figure 9 where the flexible intermediate memberI5 is bent into a loop 40, and is secured by a set of rivets 4| so as toform the hinge member for engagement with the pivot pin 3!. It is not,of course, essential that the plate [5 shall be of uniform thickness,and it may be graduated in thickness, if desired, as indicated by thebroken line at 42.

The invention thus provides an extremely simple but effectual form ofhinge which enables a comparatively large number of plates to be mountedin a compact manner, and yet enables them to be widely spaced forcleaning purposes.

What I claim is:

1. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of platespivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixedsupport, a pivot carried thereby, and a thin flexible member connectingone of the plates with the pivot whereby the resilience of the flexiblemember enables the plate to align itself against the next adjacent plateand to be clamped. into firm uniform marginal contact therewith.

2. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of platespivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixedsupport, a pivot carried thereby, and a thin flexible strip connectingone of the plates with the pivot whereby the resilience of the strip ina direction at right angles to the pivot enables the plate to alignitself against the next adjacent plate and be clamped into uniformmarginal contact therewith.

3. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of platespivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixedsupport, a vertical pivot carried thereby, and

a thin flexible strip arranged in a vertical plane with its edgesdirected upwardly and downwardly, connecting one of the plates with thepivot whereby the resilience of the strip in a horizontal directionenables the plate to align itself a against the next adjacent plate andbe clamped in uniform marginal contact therewith.

4. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of platespivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixedsupport, a pivot carried thereby and a flexible strip which is thin andflat but is. tapered in width, said strip serving to connect one of theplates with the pivot whereby the resilience of the strip in a directionat right angles to the pivot enables the plate to align itself againstthe next adjacent plate and be clamped in firm uniform marginal contacttherewith, while the weight of the plate is taken by the strip in adirection across its width.

5. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of platespivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting for a pair of adjacentplates comprising a fixed support, a pivot pin carried thereby, a pairof flat flexible strips each pivoted at one end to the pin and joined attheir other ends to the corresponding plates, the general plane of eachstrip being parallel with that of the corresponding plate sothat theresilience of the strips enables the plates to be clamped in uniformmarginal contact with one another and with the adjoining plates of theunit.

6. In a laminated heat interchange unit a hinge mounting in accordancewith claim 5, in which each of the said pair of adjacent plates iscarried by two flexible strips secured at the upper and lower parts ofone edge of said plate, and in which one pivot pin is common to theupper parts of the said plates and another pivot pin is common to thelower parts of the same pair of plates.

7. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of platespivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixedsupport, a pivot pin carried thereby, a member pivotally mounted on saidpin, and a thin flexible strip joining the pivoted member to the heatinterchange plate, the resilience of the flexible member enabling theplate to align itself against the next adjacent plate and to be clampedinto firm uniform marginal contact therewith.

8. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of platespivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixedsupport, a pivot pin carried thereby, and a thin flexible strip which isbent at one end to form an eye swinging upon the pivot pin, and which isattached at its other end to the heat interchange plate whereby thelatter is enabled to align itself against the next adjacent plate and tobe clamped in uniform marginal contact therewith.

9. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a fixed support carryinga plurality of pivotally mounted plates and means for clamping saidplates together, a hinge mounting at the top part i of said plates andanother hinge mounting at the bottom thereof, each of said hingemountings comprising horizontal flanges carried one above another uponthe fixed support, a plurality of pivot pins extending verticallythrough the flanges, and flexible strip members pivotally engaging thepivot pins between adjacent flanges, the other ends of said flexiblestrips being secured to the heat interchange plates, thus enabling saidplates to be clamped into uniform marginal contact with one another.

10. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a fixed support carryinga plurality of pivotally mounted plates, and means for clamping saidplates together, a hinge mounting at the top part of said plates andanother hinge mounting at the bottom, each of said hinge mountingscomprising three horizontal flanges carried one above an-- other uponthe fixed support, a plurality of pivot pins each extending verticallythrough the three flanges, and flexible strip members pivotally engagingthe pivot pins between adjacent flanges, the other ends of thoseflexible strips between the upper pair of flanges being connected withalternate heat interchange plates and those strips between the lowerpair of flanges being connected with the intervening alternate plates,so that the whole of said plates are held flexibly and, when beingclamped together, are capable of accommodating themselves to variationsin the thickness of the heat interchange plates. 7

11. A heat interchange unit comprising a plurality of separate heatexchange members relatively of different thicknesses, and clamping meansfor said members, said members being mounted to open apart by pivotalmovement about vertical axes, said members comprising hinges forconnection with said axes, said hinges providing substantially flexibleelements to enable fiat assembly of said members when said clampingmeans are moved into closed position.

12. A heat interchange unit comprising a plurality of separate heatexchange members relatively of different thicknesses, and clamping meansfor said members, said members being mounted to open apart by pivotalmovement about vertical axes, said members comprising hinges forconnection with said axes, said hinges comprising flexible intermediateelements fixedly secured to said members to enable a flat assembly ofsaid members when said clamping means are moved into closed position.

EDWIN PRESTAGE.

